Burden of respiratory abnormalities in microwave popcorn and flavouring manufacturing workers

Details

• Journal Article:
  Occup Environ Med
• Personal Author:
  Fechter-Leggett, Ethan D. ; White, Sandra K. ; Fedan, Kathleen B. ; Cox-Ganser, Jean M. ; Cummings, Kristin J.
• Description:
  Objectives
  
  Diacetyl, a butter-flavour compound used in food and flavouring production, is a respiratory toxin. We characterized the burden of respiratory abnormalities in workers at popcorn and flavouring manufacturing facilities that used diacetyl as evaluated through U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) health hazard evaluations.
  
  Methods
  
  We performed analyses describing the number and percentage of current and former workers from popcorn and flavouring manufacturing facilities where NIOSH administered a respiratory health questionnaire and spirometry testing who met case definitions of suspected flavourings-related lung disease. Case definitions were — Pathologist-reported: lung biopsy pathology report stating supportive of/consistent with constrictive bronchiolitis or bronchiolitis obliterans; Probable: obstructive/mixed spirometric pattern with forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) <60% predicted; Possible: obstructive/mixed spirometric pattern with FEV1 ≥60% or any spirometric restriction; Symptoms Only: normal spirometry plus exertional dyspnoea or usual cough.
  
  Results
  
  During 2000–2012, NIOSH collected questionnaire and spirometry data on 1407 workers (87.0% current, 13.0% former) at nine facilities in eight states. After applying case definitions, 4 (0.3%) were classified as Pathologist-reported, 48 (3.4%) as Probable, 234 (16.6%) as Possible, and 404 (28.7%) as Symptoms Only. The remaining 717 (51.0%) workers had normal spirometry without exertional dyspnoea or usual cough. Seven of 11 workers with biopsies did not meet the Pathologist-reported case definition, although four met Probable and three met Possible.
  
  Conclusions
  
  This approach demonstrates the substantial burden of respiratory abnormalities in these workers. A similar approach could quantify the burden of respiratory abnormalities in other industries that use diacetyl.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Aged Article Diacetyl Female Flavoring Agents Food-Processing Industry Humans Male Middle Aged Occupational Diseases Occupational Exposure Respiration Disorders United States Young Adult

  More +
• Source:
  Occup Environ Med. 75(10):709-715
• Pubmed ID:
  30045951
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC6482464
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  75
• Issue:
  10
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ad1a327632288a93916cb617c226460b472317130c1d48a851c21cf4ce2c364117131e119a0e769bf56a2ddc2862d2ea799b9b1bec59dc42297d59bd74e154bb
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/77851/cdc_77851_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 398.70 KB ]